


Take Me With You

by digitalduckie



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 13:03:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13975713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitalduckie/pseuds/digitalduckie
Summary: Curie is determined to make her own path and the stranger who found her is her way out.





	Take Me With You

The residents of Vault 81 understandably held mixed emotions when it came to the bot before them. Her moderate condition was testament to the shelter of the secret section of the vault where she had aided Vault-Tec appointed scientists in carrying out experiments on both the unwitting residents and a brood of vicious mole rats for more than two centuries. She was, however, also the source of the cure for the disease one of the children had contracted. She was also the most accessible experience of the secret section that any of them could have until the area could be properly secured. These factors, combined with her own pre-war knowledge, made her a popular curiosity and as such she found it difficult to maneuver about the atrium.

Few would sneer from a distance. Many would approach and eventually surround her, desiring an up-close encounter with the only model of Handy they had ever seen. They would ask her questions about what she was doing in the secret sector and why she and the doctors never gave any indication of their presence. Where were the doctors? Dead of course. She had conjured up a universal medicine but not yet bottled immortality after all.

Initially she was pleased they took interest in her, her work, and the scientists she had spent so many years with. But it soon became repetitive and it seemed even the vault physician was more interested in the differences between the residents and those from the surface than any assistance she could provide. If he had truly considered her an asset in his own work, he could have asked her to be a proxy, researching above ground in his place. Instead, he preferred to wait for outsiders to visit as he had with the man who had found her.

The man, she realized, would be heading back into the wasteland above. A man who had been credited as a hero for finding her and the cure she held. They would trust him and if she could convince him that she would be of use, then he could convince the residents to let him take her along. She spotted him as he exited a room off the atrium that had been designated with a classic striped barbershop pole. With some clattering and the hiss of exhaust, she pardoned herself from her spectators and glided toward him.

"Monsieur!"

"Oh, hey! C.V.R.I.E., right?" He gave a smile, his face freshly shaved and hair trimmed. He looked much less haggard and yet without the overgrowth, he appeared older. More mature.

"Oui. Yes. Though Curie is fine. I do not believe that I got your name, however." It would be rude to make a request without even knowing his name.

"Marshall Darling. Courier of the Mojave Express, Primm." There was a flourish of pride in his voice and he hung his bag off his shoulder before extending his hand to her.

Curie had never shared a handshake with a human before and she faltered to understand the gesture. With a whirl and whiz however, she spun her arms about until the most hand-like one, her pair of pincers, was front and forward. Marshall took it in his hand and gave a single shake. At least as much as you could shake such a thing.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Darling."

"You, too." He laughed, his smile a seemingly permanent fixture. "I bet you're happy to stretch your legs out here now."

"I do not have legs." Of course he wasn't being literal but it was difficult to not register the obvious. "But I do wish to see more. Monsieur, if I may be bold, I do not wish to stay here in the vault."

Somehow her words softened his smile and it began to fall. She could not let the opportunity slip from her grasp, however. Just as she had convinced him he was authorized to release her from her laboratory, she refused to be dissuaded from leaving Vault 81.

"I wish to go to the surface world. Think of everything I could achieve if I had access to the knowledge both pre-war and contemporary. If I could simply observe for myself, I could contribute so much research to the scientific and medical fields alone!"

"R-Right-"

"There is nothing I am more suited to than such tasks. To stay here in the vault is a waste of my potential. It would be a dreadful existence!" Though she had begun to think of the mole rats as something of a pet, she would not allow herself to make the same mistake above. She would remain detached and focused on her research and such would be easier if she weren't confined to a solitary space.

"I implore you, Monsier, to allow me to accompany you above ground so that I may make great advancements for the betterment of mankind-"

"Curie baby." Marshall interrupted, his hand held up. "You don't have to argue with me."

"No?"

"Nope. I don't mind having company. So if the folks around here don't mind you leaving, well, I'll be in town for a little while longer." The faded smile returned, beaming from ear to ear and filled to the brim with sincerity. His pale blue eyes were gentle and far less intense yet just as genuine. Curie wasn't certain why she felt the need to take note of it. Perhaps it was a matter of trust. As a bot, she was inclined to default to the whims of humans. But if her research was to be truly successful, she would need to reason who she could trust and who she may need to disregard. And the man before her was difficult to disregard.


End file.
